Proverbs 6:20 My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
Again God addresses the son here. It is so important for the son to know the true God and serve Him. The son needs to keep his father’s commandment. This is under the presumption that the father is giving wise counsel to the son. Not only is it necessary for the father to be a godly father, but the mother also needs to know the Lord. With that being the case, the commandment of the father and the law of the mother is important. It is not presented just as an option to consider. Certainly the son has freewill. However, if the son wants a good life, he will take heed to the commandment of the father and the law of the mother. It is also important to note that the commandment of the father and the law of the mother are not contradictory. Keep in mind that God created Adam and instructed him. Then God made the woman to be the help meet for the man. She is the moderating factor in many ways. The father needs to be under God’s control, and he needs that godly woman to help him to maintain a proper perspective on life.
In verse 21 God continues to show the importance of the right law. The son needs to bind them continually upon his heart. It is not enough to have a head knowledge of God’s Word. People that function on that superficial level always have a corrupted view of God’s Word. When the heart is changed by God, it will receive the truth and it will see the importance of binding that truth upon itself every day. That speaks of being saved and then reading and applying God’s Word to every situation in life. Rather than the effeminate necklaces that modern day men are wearing, bind God’s Word around your neck. Accept that as your lifeline.
If the son will take God’s Word as his Word, It will lead him in his decisions. When he sleeps it will give him rest. He will not need to be startled awake due to some bad dream, etc.
I read of a professing Christian man who claims to have had a dream a few nights ago that really disturbed him. So much so that a couple of days later, he is sick in bed from it.
I know that Daniel had a dream that greatly upset him. God was communicating something to him by dream because God’s Word was not complete yet. God revealed to Daniel what was ahead for his people, Israel. It was not a good picture.
Today we have the completed Word of God. There is no new revelation being given. When a man claims to have had a dream now that is upsetting him for days after, he did not get that from God. Of course there will be gullible people who will be amazed at this man and think he must be so very spiritual. The devil is the great deceiver. If he can get you sidetracked by some man who claims to have received a special message from God, that is what he wants. God’s Word is available for all to read and study. God is not giving any person a special message today. God’s Word is special and we need to pay attention to that.
God’s Word will also speak to the heart of man when he awakes and reads it. God’s Word is a living book. It is not just some writings from men who are long dead. Too many people approach God’s Word as an ancient book that might have some relevance for us, but not that much. They would sooner believe the multitude of liars that twist and corrupt God’s Word to make it more palatable to the lost. Manufacturing your own god does not help. In the end it is the true God before Whom all will stand.
The commandment is a lamp and the law is light. Notice that those two things offer reproofs of instruction. Reproof can be correction or rebuke or chiding. Yes, when a person reads God’s Word it will challenge the thoughts and intents of the heart. God’s Word is powerful. That is why so many people want to stay away from it. They do not mind the perversions because they have no power.
God reminds us here that we need correction more often than we want to admit. Too often we assume that when we become adults, we know what to do and how to live. We don’t need anyone to correct us. In fact most people avoid correction. They don’t like having the police pull them over for speeding or for a breathalyzer test. That is why they hire a lawyer to get them off. They want to prove the law wrong.
Once again God warned about the evil woman. King Solomon was one of the greatest examples of the dangers of the evil woman. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. He did not know how to control his lusts. He allowed women to wrap him around their little finger. They played with him. They knew how to flatter him.
God knows that we as men are attracted to beauty. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder. God made the woman and He made them with beauty. Being attracted to a beautiful woman is not wrong if that is the woman you marry. That woman needs to be the beauty for you. When the man lusts after the beauty of the woman in his heart, he is in trouble. The man that overemphasizes the beauty of the woman will be melted by her. Then she flutters with her eyelids and he melts even further. The fake eyelashes and the other makeup used to emphasize the eyelashes have one purpose. Some women may be ignorant of that fact. They need to be instructed.
In verse 26 God tells us all about this strange woman. She is a whore. She will bring a man to a piece of bread. There are many men who have gone through divorces or breakups in other ways. They seem to be able to bounce back and carry on. They are left paying large sums in alimony and child support. They suffer and it wears on their bodies.
Notice that the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. The adulteress cannot find what her heart longs for among her own kind. She knows the godly man would be good for her. She does not want that man to remain godly. She just wants to break him and abuse him.
The ungodly are blinded by sin. They are not satisfied with what they have, but they do not want to turn to the ONLY HOPE OF MAN. The wise son needs to listen to the commandment of his wise father and the law of his wise mother. Every son will learn from somewhere. The wise son will learn from his wise parents.
Pastor Bartel